Technological & cultural background

Technology always influenced street-music-culture. Whereas traditional instruments already have a place in the public space in terms of busking, electronic music was mostly present in form of playing prerecorded, maybe altered music (eg. mixtapes).

Under some circumstances it was accompanied by dance, but the music itself wasn’t live! It has been created beforehand, in a studio or home studio. Today however, the developments in processing power of mobile devices and wearable sensor technology make it possible to let people actively create digital music wherever they go.

To understand how such a paradigm shift can be initiated, this project examined the social and cultural implications as well as the technology that can enable greater musical expression.